STACK #228 October 2023

FEATURE MUSIC

In his 2019 memoir Me , John hilariously recounted the incident: “For a while, I thought Keith Richards kept staring at me because he was awestruck by the brilliance of my improvised contributions to their oeuvre. After a few songs, it finally penetrated my brain that the expression on his face wasn’t really suggestive of profound musical appreciation…” Over the ensuing decades Richards and John have thrown a handful of barbs at one another, mostly about relevancy, addiction and talent. But John has also said two of his favourite songs are The Stones’ 1971 hit Let it Rock and 1963’s Come On (both Chuck Berry covers). LADY GAGA AWES NEW YORK Vocals on Sweet Sounds of Heaven In December 2012, Lady Gaga was at an odd juncture in her career. The year before, she had released Born This Way , her triple-Grammy nommed sophomore album of bubbly dance pop. But she’d also just recorded her first ever collab with Tony Bennett, The Lady Is a Tramp , which had more serious critics looking at her with new eyes. It was dawning on the world that Gaga was more than a meat dress. When the Stones needed to choose a female singer with whom to duet on the track Gimme Shelter for their ‘50 & Counting’ tour (which hit New York at the end of 2012), they landed on one Stefani Germanotta. The live vocal role had previously been performed on the tour by Florence Welch (at London’s O2 Arena) and Mary J Blige (at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center), and Gaga was immediately elevated to the prestige these other two vocalists commanded. Her presence also, of course, injected a riotous new flair into the song’s performance. . (NOT SO LITTLE) STEVIE WONDER MAKES HIS MARK Keys on Sweet Sounds of Heaven In 1972, at just 22 years old, pianist and vocalist Stevie Wonder was chosen by The Rolling Stones to open shows across their now-fabled ‘Stones Touring Party’ set of US dates (the band’s first appearance in America since the disastrous 1969 Altamont Speedway Festival). The band had deliberately chosen an up-and-coming artist of colour to support, to make a statement of acknowledgement and appreciation for the deep-rooted well from which their own music drew: that of the rock-morphed rhythm and blues pioneered by artists like Chuck Berry, whom the band often covered. “It was a great thing for the Stones, because Mick and Keith just loved Stevie,” the group’s executive manager Marshall Chess has said. “And it was a great thing for Stevie, because it showed him to this whole other, white

Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Nope, there are no Stones hidden in the collage cut-outs… but in the bottom-right corner, there is a doll wearing a knitted jumper which bears the words: WELCOME THE ROLLING STONES. The cover shot was snapped by photographer Michael Cooper, whose young son Adam wandered in on shoot day with some toys to add to the referential montage. For placement in that prominent corner position, Cooper the elder eventually selected Adam’s doll. In the likeness of Shirley Temple, the doll was sporting a sweater that Mick Jagger himself had given to Adam as a gift, having received it from an American fan the year before. The Stones returned the cute nod on their own album of 1967, Their Satanic Majesties Request ; the Fab Four’s faces are hidden within the artwork’s flowers. Musically speaking, there have been plenty of cross-over moments. The Lennon McCartney-penned I Wanna Be Your Man became the Stones’ second single, after the groups met in London in '63; late Stones guitarist Brian Jones contributed backing vocals and the clinking glass sounds to The Beatles’ 1966 track Yellow Submarine ; Jones gifted a “ropey” sax solo (according to McCartney) in the ‘67 track You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) ; Jagger supplied backing vocals for '67's Baby, You’re a Rich Man (the track released as a B-side to All You Need Is Love ); and the Stones’ ‘67 track We Love You – a deliberate denotation to The Beatles’ All You Need Is Love – features the uncredited Lennon and McCartney on backing vocals.

The Rolling Stones' 1967 album Their Satanic Majesties . Can you spot all four Beatles?

audience: the Stones’ audience.” On the night of the tour’s show in Boston, Richards was arrested, leading to a delay in the Stones’ appearance. With the crowd growing increasingly impatient, Wonder and his band Wonderlove famously appeased the near-unruly audience with an astonishingly funky extended jam, turning the tide of attitude and winning a new fanbase with their sparkling skills. PAUL MCCARTNEY’S LONELY HEART OF STONE Bass on Bite My Head Off Once you look into it, the Stones/Beatles rivalry really wasn’t as fiery as the dedicated teeth gnashers would have you believe – it’s been rather gentlemanly, in fact. For many, the first link they'll think of between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones is the album art for the former’s 1967 record Sgt.

Hackney Diamonds by The Rolling Stones is out Oct 20 via Universal.

Lady Gaga and Mick Jagger

performing Gimme Shelter in Newark, NJ in 2012. Credit: YouTube

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